It's been quite a while since I've given my Century of Books (ongoing) project much thought! I'm not sure I have actually made much progress--a matter of out of sight, out of mind perhaps? Last time around I mentioned relaxing the rules a bit, and in the spirit of that idea I have done just that. Even cheating a little, I am only up to the grand total of 40 books. Since May I've managed to add only five books to my list. I have read a number of books that I could add but the slots are already filled. Still, I'm almost (finally) to the midway mark.
1905: Doctor Glas by Hjalmar Söderbeerg, tr. Paul B. Austin
1912: Alexander's Bridge by Willa Cather
1915: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
1917: Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
1922: Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf
1924: The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
1928: Grey Mask by Patricia Wentworth
1929: The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey
1931: Maigret in Holland by Georges Simenon
1932: Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey
1933: Flush by Virginia Woolf
1935: Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
1941: Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie
1942: The Lieutenant's Lady by Bess Streeter Aldrich
1943: The Last of Summer by Kate O'Brien
1949: Khirbet Khizeh by S. Yizhar
1950: There's No Home by Alexander Baron
1951: Transit by Anna Seghers
1953: Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton
1956: Wildfire at Midnight by Mary Stewart
1958: My Face the World to See by Alfred Hayes
1961: Everything Flows by Vasily Grossman
1965: Airs Above Ground by Mary Stewart
1968: The Wall by Marlen Haushofer
1972: My Michael by Amos Oz (English translation)
1974: Cashelmara by Susan Howatch
1975: Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban
1977: The Wars by Timothy Findley
1981: A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson
1983: Pitch Dark by Renata Adler
1984: Testing the Current by William McPherson
1985: Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym
1986:A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
1989: The Quincunx by Charles Palliser
1991: Letters from Constance by Mary Hocking
1992: At Weddings and Wakes by Alice McDermott
1993: A Grave Talent by Laurie King
1995: Total Chaos by Jean-Claude Izzo
1996: Hotel Paradise by Martha Grimes
1997:The Black Flower by Howard Bahr
I seem to have done really well in the 1980s and 90s, but still have gaping holes in the first quarter of the century. Last time around I had thought to try and fill in some of those holes, but now I am thinking it might make sense to try and fill out the latter two decades. If nothing else it would be nice to know I have a full decade. So, I need books from 1980, 1982, 1987, 1988 and/or 1990, 1994, 1998, 1999. I think I just like thinking about books I can potentially read to fill in the gaps. So, let's do that now . . .
1980: Loon Lake by E.L. Doctorow, Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, Innocent Blood by P.D. James
1982: An Ice Cream War by William Boyd, The Assault by Harry Mulisch, The Color Purple by Alice Walker
1987: The Commitments by Roddy Doyle, Black Dahlia by James Ellroy, Rich in Love by Josephine Humphreys, Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (I think we've found a winner for this year . . . it has long been on my wishlist of books to read)!
1988: Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood, The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing, Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler
1990: The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi, The Innocent by Ian McEwan, Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog, Possession by A.S. Byatt
1994: The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields, Of Love and Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
1998: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis, Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters, Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl, Trans-Sister Radio by Chris Bohjalian
1999: White Teeth by Zadie Smith, Plainsong by Kent Haruf, Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem, Fortune's Rocks by Anita Shreve
Well, something to think about anyway. I know I have not in any way exhausted the possibilities, but it's fun to think about and a few ideas to have in mind.
You know why I do this don't you? It's just gives me an excuse to start a new book . . .